Anthony off Wild Card Series roster after reaggravating hand injury
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NEW YORK – The news worsened for Red Sox outfielder/designated hitter Roman Anthony on Wednesday when he was taken off the roster for the remainder of the American League Wild Card Series against the Yankees after imaging back in Boston showed additional strains.
Curtis Mead, who fractured his left wrist in his second at-bat after his acquisition by the Red Sox on July 28, took Anthony’s roster spot.
The fact that Anthony was taken off the Wild Card Series roster means he would be ineligible to play in the AL Division Series against the Rays, should Boston advance.
Mead has turned a corner of late with his hitting progression, recently taking live batting practice.
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Losing Anthony was tough timing for the Red Sox, who took a 9-0 loss in Game 1 of this best-of-three series. Sensing immediately it was more than a minor setback, the team hired a car to drive Anthony back to Boston after the game, and he had imaging taken on Wednesday morning.
“He is sore,” said Red Sox manager Chad Tracy. “He was sent back last night after leaving the game. Sent him back to Boston for extra, additional imaging, which actually revealed some new strains to different muscles in his wrist, in addition to exacerbating the old [finger] injury. So it's not great.”
Anthony suffered his initial injury on a check-swing foul ball in Detroit on May 4. He had a partially torn tendon in a joint that connects his right ring finger to his wrist.
Other than feeling occasional “zingers” on swings since his return to action on Aug. 30, Anthony hadn’t felt anything close to the discomfort that took place in Game 1, when he exited the game in the sixth inning after striking out in his first two at-bats.
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The best-case scenario is that rest and rehab help Anthony recover, and that surgery won’t be necessary.
“I hope not,” said Tracy, when asked if this could be a longer-term injury. “At some point, we’re going to hit an offseason, there's going to be a long layoff, and everybody's body after a 162-game season needs time to heal and recover. So, my hope is that it would be a situation where you finally get to a place where it can just rest and it's fine. So, I don't really know the answer to that. I know the work he did to get back, and at times, [he] looked very good swinging.”
The 22-year-old left-handed-hitter has had mixed results since returning to action, slashing .262/.321/.476 with four homers and 10 RBIs in his final 103 regular-season at-bats.
Tracy doesn’t believe the wrist had much of an impact on Anthony’s performance when he returned.
“I don't think so. No, because he was really good the first few days, then he wasn't very good for a week, and then he was really, really good again for periods of time,” said Tracy. “So kind of off and on, and then he was kind of mediocre, and then the first trip to [St. Petersburg on Sept. 18-20], he hit the home run, and he hit everything hard in that series, so he just kind of did this [new injury]. He was exceptional at times, then at times he wasn't as good, but I wouldn't attribute any of that to this [injury].”
There was, however, some concern about Anthony heading into Game 1. He grimaced after a check swing at Tropicana Field in the final game of the regular season.
“We all knew yesterday he didn't feel good at all,” said Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu on Wednesday. “The whole day, the trainers and everybody were trying to get him ready before the game. But he kind of felt bad the whole day.”
Tracy said his concerns were quelled before the first pitch.
“Once he went and hit before the game, it was basically like, ‘Let's rock and roll,’” Tracy said. “So when the game started, I wasn't even thinking about it. You always keep people prepared, but when the game began, I wasn't even thinking about it. And he took two at-bats – I think both at-bats were check-swing strike three – and still wasn't thinking about it until [trainer] Brandon [Henry] tapped me and said something worse happened.”
And now, the Red Sox will try to win without Anthony, which they did earlier in the season, most notably during that 32-5 stretch from June 25-Aug. 8. For that to happen, players will have to heat up. Boston’s offense has been cold as a unit for weeks.
“It's hard losing him, but I hope very soon he'll recover,” said Abreu. “And hopefully he's going to be healthy for next year. But I know this year we had to battle without him. It's a big loss for us, but we still have to play the game and try to win the game today.”